4. Bonnie and Clyde

(Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow), d.1934

In the days of the Depression in America after 1929, these two young people made a great name for themselves robbing stores and committing murders quite casually and often for the sheer fun of it. Bonnie Parker was a waitress when she met Clyde Barrow, and she ended up a legendary figure known for her love of red dresses, cigars and firearms. Working in the southern states of the USA they left behind a trail of destruction. On several occasions they were trapped by the police, but seemed to bear a charmed life and escaped even through a hail of bullets. On one occasion they held up a prison farm killing a guard and helping a friend to escape. Huge rewards were by then offered for their capture. Following a tip-off, the police finally ambushed Bonnie

and Clyde at a crossroads and killed them in the gunfight that followed. In 1967 a film was made of their exploits, which resulted in the two becoming almost cult figures, and a pop song was written about them, which became a best-selling record.

Ответьте на вопросы:

1) When did these young people make a great name for themselves? 2) What were they famous for? 3) What can you say about their criminal records? 4) How were they killed?

Найдите в тексте эквиваленты слов и словосочетаний.

Cделать себе громкое имя; оставить за собой след разрушения; убить к.-л. в перестрелке; подвиг; быть пойманным полицией; ограбить магазин; экономический кризис; устроить к.-л. засаду; только ради удовольствия; сбежать под градом пуль.

5. Brown, Father

One of the great figures of detective fiction is Father Brown, created by G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) and largely based on his friend Father John O’Connor. Father Brown is a plump, moon-faced Roman Catholic priest from Essex, apparently vague and harmless, never separated

from his large black umbrella and several brown paper parcels tied up with a string. In fact Father Brown is a master of detection as Chesterton showed in forty-nine stories published between 1911 and 1935. He finds himself involved , more or less by chance, in crime, which he

solves by using common sense and his vast knowledge of human nature. Father Brown appeared on film in 1954, with Alec Guinness in the title role, and later in a television series, starring Kenneth More.

Ответьте на вопросы:

1) Was Father Brown a real person? 2) What can you say about his appearance?

3) How many stories were published about him? 4) How does Father Brown solve crimes?

Найдите в тексте эквиваленты слов и словосочетаний.

Детективный жанр; католический священник; безвредный; перевязанный веревкой; случайно; используя здравый смысл; знаниечеловеческой натуры; телесериал; главная роль.

6. Butch Cassidy, 1866-1910 and the Sundance Kid, d.1910

Butch Cassidy, whose real name was Robert Leroy Parker, was the leader of a gang of American outlaws called the Wild Bunch who operated mainly from a secure hideout in Wyoming Territory called Hole in the Wall. Other members of the gang were the Sundance Kid (real name Harry Longbaugh), Bill “News” Carver, Ben Kilpatrick and Harvey Logan. The Wild Bunch rustled cattle, held up banks and robbed trains, all with varied success. On one occasion they stole $40,000 in notes that were so new that they had not been signed, and their clumsy attempts to forge the signatures failed miserably. Having made things too hot for themselves by robbing the Union Pacific railway rather too frequently, in 1902 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid moved to South America accompanied by pretty schoolteacher Etta Place. This combination carried out a number of robberies, before the two outlaws were ambushed and killed in a gunfight with the Bolivian army in 1910. However, rumours persist that either one or both men returned to the USA and lived on peacefully to die of old age. The film of their life and death, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, managed to catch the flavour of criminal exploits almost perfectly.

Ответьте на вопросы:

1) Who was Butch Cassidy and what was his real name? 2) What crimes did his gang commit?

3) What happened in 1902? 4) What was the end of Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid?

Найдите в тексте эквиваленты слов и словосочетаний.

Преступник; грабить банки; неуклюжие попытки; перестрелка; подделывать подпись; грабить поезда; слухи (молва); слишком часто; ограбление; хорошенькая учительница; красть, воровать.